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Though it has been nearly 28 years since the Dodgers last reached the World Series, they have come tantalizingly close — closer than you might realize. The list of turning points — any one of which might have redirected the Dodgers from a title — doesn’t merely boggle the mind. It jengas the mind. It gnip-gnops the mind.

In all, there have been four National League Division Series (1996, 2006, 2014, 2015) and three National League Championship Series (2008, 2009, 2013) that might have gone the Dodgers’ way if not for a single play. There are 17 such plays captured below, and that’s not even an all-inclusive list.

Perhaps by confronting this chamber of horrors at once, we can spiritually move the Dodgers forward …

This story wasn’t supposed to be about Corey Seager. A lot of other people were going to get some limelight.

But then Seager commandeered this lead in the bottom of the seventh inning by hitting a two-run home run off Alexi Ogando halfway up the Right Field Pavilion in the Dodgers’ 12-6 win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. It was his second home run of the game — the brother home run coming in the fourth inning with a 396-foot blast to center field off Matt Wisler.

Keeping it in the family, Seager cousined this game with his three-homer effort on Friday night.

A week removed from the end of the Dodgers’ season, it’s still staggering just how great Justin Turner was in the National League Division Series. The fact is it’s one of the greatest performances by a Dodger in a playoff series — ever.

Jackie Robinson safe at home in 1949. Davey Lopes safe at first in 1977. The heat of Hanley Ramirez’s rib fractured by a pitch — two years ago this very day — still simmers. And above all, Reggie Jackson’s hip.

Nothing tops their notoriety in Dodger postseason history, but entering that pantheon is Chase Utley’s slide, a play we will be talking about for years.

Looks like Louis Mattingly was told he’s not starting … but Mom and Dad don’t seem discouraged about his long-term potential.

Here are some more notes and news …

Don Mattingly told reporters today that reliever Mike Adams is days away from being “game ready,” but he looks good so far.

“Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke looked sharp Friday,” writes AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, “facing hitters for the first time this spring. Perhaps more importantly, he came away from his live batting practice session pain free.”

Ned Colletti shared his thoughts with Bill Dwyre of the Times about his new role with the Dodgers — paraphrasing Jim Murray in the process. “I think he wrote one time,” Colletti said, “that things can get like riding a tiger. We’re afraid to get on, and once we’re on, we’re afraid to get off.”

Of the four players since 1970 who have played at least 300 games at both shortstop and the outfield, two have played for the Dodgers: Derrel Thomas and Hubie Brooks. Hanley Ramirez could become the third, as Doug Miller of ESPN Insider notes.

And with the 1,390th pick in the 1988 amateur draft, the Dodgers select 6-year-old outfielder Andre Ethier …

Well, not exactly, but over at Grantland, Ben Lindbergh did something I’ve always wanted to do but never attempted — see how far back you can trace the acquisition of a given player.

Amazingly, he’s done it for all 30 MLB teams, and as you can see above, he routes Andre Ethier all the way back to the 1988 draft, when the outfielder wasn’t quite two months past his sixth birthday. (Click the image to enlarge.)

Yasiel Puig clocked in at 26.7 seconds per pitch at the plate. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Cary Osborne

Dodger hitters certainly gave their fans their money’s worth in 2014.

Fangraphs has a statistic that measures time between pitches for hitters and pitchers called “Pace.” Dodger hitters led all of baseball in time between pitches at 24.0 seconds. The Major League average for Pace is 23.0 seconds.

Dodger shortstop Hanley Ramirez led the Majors with a time of 28.1 seconds per pitch. Yasiel Puig was tied for third at 26.7. Matt Kemp was 17th at 25.1 seconds per pitch.

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